Review: Pieces of Us by Margie Gelbwasser

Book: Pieces of Us by Margie Gelbwasser
Publisher: Flux
Pages: 336
Source: Netgalley
Links: Goodreads | Amazon

Two families. Four teens.
A summer full of secrets.

Every summer, hidden away in a lakeside community in upstate New York, four teens leave behind their old identities…and escape from their everyday lives.

Yet back in Philadelphia during the school year, Alex cannot suppress his anger at his father (who killed himself), his mother (whom he blames for it), and the girls who give it up too easily. His younger brother, Kyle, is angry too—at his abusive brother, and at their mother who doesn’t seem to care. Meanwhile, in suburban New Jersey, Katie plays the role of Miss Perfect while trying to forget the nightmare that changed her life. But Julie, her younger sister, sees Katie only as everything she’s not. And their mother will never let Julie forget it.

Up at the lake, they can be anything, anyone. Free. But then Katie’s secret gets out, forcing each of them to face reality—before it tears them to pieces.

To be honest, I'm truly speechless about this book. This book was depressing and just plain sad, but was it worth it? I'm not so sure.


This book was told in four different POVs: Alex, Katie, Kyle, and Julie. Kyle's POV was really...different. I've never read anything in second person, and after reading this book, I don't plan to. I felt so distant from Kyle and the whole writing was just awkward. I did enjoy however reading Alex's, Katie's, and Julie's POVs.

These characters are...realistic. They're raw and broken.They all looked to complete each others' missing pieces, but they have no idea or understanding of the word "forgiveness". Not knowing any forgiveness or compassion is what really killed this book. They're all heartless machines, and I would have loved to see any kind of development in any of these characters. Unfortunately, it just didn't happen.

However, I don't know how and I don't know why, but this book was just addicting. I ate it all up within a day or two. I think it's because of the back stories. They were heart breaking, written and told in an amazing manner that was touching.

The ending was just...horrible. It was somewhat abrupt and it left me with so many questions. It was just...ugh. I don't even want to talk about it. Yet surprisingly, I really enjoyed this book and it was amazing but at the same time, I really hated it. I have mixed feelings about this book...